1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the transfer of electronic data files between remote locations, and more particularly, to a communications system providing a more efficient transfer of electronic data files from a plurality of first locations to selected ones of a plurality of second locations.
2. Description of Related Art
Within the publishing industry, the transfer of information between advertising agencies and publishers is typically a process fraught with inefficiencies. A newspaper, for example, must have its display ads in its possession at least 24 hours before the newspaper is printed. Further, a typical newspaper will utilize advertising agencies located throughout the U.S., and in some cases, in foreign countries. Display ads, that is, those ads that typically contain some graphic material, are most often physically delivered to the newspaper as hard copy, that is, on paper, by an overnight courier. Therefore, the advertising agency must have the display ad completed 48 hours before the newspaper goes to print.
In the case of a Sunday newspaper edition, for example, typically, the newspaper must have the display ads in its possession by 5:00 p.m. the prior Friday. To meet that 5:00 p.m. Friday deadline, the advertising agency must delivery those display ads to a courier by 7:00 p.m. the preceding Thursday. Depending on its size, a Sunday edition of the newspaper may have anywhere from several hundred to several thousand display ads. Therefore, the physical handling of this large volume of material presents a problem for the newspaper.
In addition, the advertising agency generally will be phoning the newspaper prior to the 5:00 p.m. Friday deadline to confirm that the display ad has been received. Often that information is not readily known, and the newspaper will have to use a person to telephone or telecopy the advertising agencies to confirm receipt of their display ads. The above is a hectic and inefficient process for delivering display ads from the advertising agencies to the newspaper publisher. Further, since the display ad is delivered as hard copy, that is, reproduced on a sheet of paper, additional handling may be required by the newspaper. For example, it may be necessary to electronically scan the hard copy display ad to produce an electronic file. Alternatively, the newspaper may have to create negative or positive film of the hard copy display ad prior to use.
Some publishers utilize a bulletin board on a computer network and assign passwords to their advertising agencies. The advertising agencies then transmit electronic files of the display ads to the bulletin board, and the newspaper downloads those files to other storage areas or its printers. Display ads typically contain graphic material, and therefore, the corresponding electronic binary files are relatively large. Even though data compression programs are available, they must be separately executed and may or may not be used. Uncompressed display ad files require a relatively long time to both transmit the ads from the advertising agency to the bulletin board and from the bulletin board to another location associated with the newspaper. In those situations where thousands of display ads must be received within several hours, multiple computer terminals and phone lines may be required, and many publishers have determined the required investment, labor and on-going expense of such a system is not practical.
The above bulletin board systems have the further disadvantage of being unique and different for each publisher. Consequently, an advertising agency must learn different commands and protocols in order to use the bulletin boards of different publishers. The complexity of that exercise often results in the advertising agency preferring to use the overnight courier delivery service. Therefore, such bulletin board systems do not permit advertising agencies to access multiple publishers with a single system. Further, the advertising agency will seek an independent confirmation that the display ad has been received by the publisher.
In summary, all of the existing display ad transfer processes have significant inefficiencies and disadvantages to both the advertising agency and the publisher.